Whatever it Takes
by Papersak
Summary: Zero decides he must do all he can to win Alice, even if it means getting advice from a creepy bat girl and being with several people he doesn't like. Will his work pay off?
1. Making a Deal

(I return with a very weird fic. Whether or not it's interesting is up to you, but it feels different to me. This was incredibly difficult to write in-character and seeing as that's one of my biggest pet peeves besides basic grammar, I do hope I did these guys right. The only exception is Zukin... while she needs to be in-character... I know I write her oddly different whenever she comes up. And she needs a personality anyway... she's the weirdest to write, I don't know. xP Enjoy~)

* * *

He was lucky and yet he wasn't.

Zero had been in this town for about a month at that point, and he met some... interesting people, as well as interesting who-knows-whats. He even met Alice, whom he'd been a fan of for a while beforehand. He assumed she was a fake celebrity, and certainly didn't expect her to be a sweet, caring person.

Which was unlucky for him.

The silver haired man prided himself on his coolness, and his distance from others. Had Alice been a strong, outgoing woman, he would've gotten through to her more easily. But even if he did have the heart to give her a hard time like he did everyone else, she would only become more distant to him. And so he had to ask himself... how does someone like him become closer to someone like her?

"I can help you."

Zero gasped out of his thoughts. He was above a rooftop gazing over the city when that voice came from his left. He glanced over, turning his head only minimally, to see an odd bat girl sitting on the ledge, with a blank expression that rivaled his own lack of enthusiasm.

"What are you talking about?" he mumbled calmly.

"You and Alice," Devil Zukin said, "could be together. You love her, don't you?"

"I wouldn't say that," Zero replied, annoyed. "What gives you that idea?"

"I have seen you with her. Though you spend little time with each other, your anger fades when you are with her, or even when you see her. You almost lose your hostility."

He wasn't sure how to take that. But he wasn't sure he wanted or needed her help. If he and Alice were meant to be together... no, meant to be friends... surely it would happen on its own.

"Alice is a good person," Devil Zukin commented randomly. "I am surprised she has only found one love."

"She what?" Zero asked impulsively.

"Her love," Zukin continued, "was back in Japan. Or... perhaps they weren't in love. He surely seemed to like her, and she was kind to him. Is that not love?"

Zero didn't want to believe it. This girl wasn't making much sense, anyway. "They may have been friends. Stop fooling around with the word 'love.'"

"Forgive me," Zukin mumbled, somewhat insincerely.

"Why would you want to help me, anyway?" Zero asked, ignoring her feelings.

Zukin thought about that. "I want to see what a relationship is like. I want to watch one form between two people... neither of which am I attached to."

"In short, you want to stalk us?" Zero spat.

She shrugged. "You asked what my motivations were and I answered." Zukin looked outward thoughtfully. "Besides, you now know that I watch you already."

Zero turned to the doorway to go back inside. He was about halfway there when Zukin called to him.

"So do you want my advice?"

He stopped.

"... I'll take it."

* * *

(For the record, Alice's "friend" could refer to whoever you want that isn't in X, but I used to pair her up with some ITG guy in fan art and that's the specific person I meant.

This is, in fact, a chapterficlolwut. Yes, I'm writing another one. Dun worry, I'm proofing the future chapters and it's practically done so it won't be ditched this time. xP Reviews are lovely, although I'd understand none cause nothing's really happened yet. ;P)


	2. Her Advice

(Eh, I thought I was just gonna upload that chapter but surewhynot let's upload another one. ;P

Surewhynot, let's keep Zukin's honorifics because she's still too Japanese. I like honorifics, sue me. xP)

* * *

Zukin smiled as she swung her legs onto the roof. She walked in front of him for his attention.

"Where to begin?" she asked herself. "Alice is very shy. You won't get far if you're forceful. You appear to play with her mind sometimes when you request to meet up with her, and act as if she has no reason not to be with you. She has yet to accept your offers because she will not trust you that way, and she will continue to be afraid unless you let her do as she chooses more often."

"How closely have you been watching me?" Zero interrupted with a scowl in her direction.

Zukin casually walked away a little. "The best way to meet with Alice is to find her in a place where she feels comfortable. Outside the TV Tower with many strangers is not one of them."

Zero let his first question go. "Then what is?"

She confidently turned to him. "The Extreme arcade. On Friday nights."

He was impressed. This information could actually be useful.

"With her friends, of course" she finished.

His eye twitched. "Her... friends?"

"You know them already, Zero-san," she explained as if it were obvious. "Rage-sama, Emi, Yuni, Akira, our new friends Gus and-"

"That many people?" Zero asked angrily.

"Those are the people who usually come," she answered. "Sometimes others will come."

"Isn't there another place I can meet Alice?"

"There are many places." She paced thoughtfully. "However, a bottled person will only trust the people that his or her friends trust. If you show her that her friends like you, she will trust you as well."

He couldn't argue much with that logic. But he was reluctant to the idea of being around so many people he didn't like and the thought ofbecoming their... _friends_ as well. Certainly, _using_ them to get close to Alice wasn't going to work in the long run.

He decided it would be worth a try. "Then I'll see you again on Friday." He walked back to the door.

"I will see you soon," Zukin told him. Zero frowned knowing that "soon" meant before Friday.

----

Rage and Akira were challenging each other on songs too difficult for most of the crowd to read. The Extreme arcade was packed with friends and fans of the dancers.

Zero felt out of place the second he walked inside. Kids ran past him as if he wasn't there, while he noticed a few interested stares from girls and puzzled stares from men. He hesitantly made his way to the back corner, where the music games had been placed. Dance Dance Revolution X was set by itself, as if it was the main attraction. It was certainly being treated like a stage at that moment. The song had ended when Zero arrived; the older man casually walked away from his A on Pluto, while that odd takoyaki chef hopped away from his lower A.

Zero scanned the crowd for his target. Just as he caught a glimpse of sapphire hair, a rose headband came in front of his face.

"Zero! It's you again!" Emi exclaimed, wearing her pink party dress. "Did you come to dance with us?"

He didn't think he should give away his motivations too soon... or at all. "This is considered dancing?" he asked instead of answering her question.

Emi giggled. "It's a test of rhythm and coordination. That's part of dancing, after all."

Zero scanned her outfit. "You're going to play in that?"

"Oh I changed it a little." She lifted up one foot. "See? Boots."

Zero sighed, starting to ignore her. "I shouldn't have come here."

"Why not?" Emi asked. "A lot of your friends are here. They probably want to see you, too."

Ignoring the fact that he didn't consider anyone his friend just yet, he searched for another answer. "This isn't my type of place," Zero replied casually. "It's loud here and it's giving me a headache."

"So if you didn't come for the games, you did come to see us after all!" Emi concluded. "I'm so happy! I wasn't really sure you liked us yet, Zero."

"That's not what I-"

"Oh, it's almost my turn. I'll talk to you later, Zero!" She waved innocently and skipped up to the mats.

He had yet to actually watch two people play this game. He saw Emi take the left side while Disco took the right. They quickly scrolled through options and songs as if they knew the game like the back of their hands. The only thing he was able to follow was the gameplay itself. It was simple enough: hit the arrow when it rose to the top of the screen. The arrows generally went to the melodies of the songs and ran in somewhat predictable patterns.

They were playing the same song, yet they were doing different steps. Emi had far fewer notes to hit than Disco did. Different levels, he assumed. So he could play whatever song he or his luck-determined dance partner wanted, so long as he stayed down a diffuculty or two. He nodded lightly to himself as he processed this information.

---

"Thanks for coming, Disco!" Emi said to him after the songs were finished. "Congratulations on those songs." Even though Emi had picked all of them, she was completely beaten by the dance king before her.

"Anytime you guys want a challenge, I'm all for it," Disco replied. "Keep working at it!"

Emi hurried to where she saw Zero before, but he was gone. She looked around briefly, but concluded that he'd left the building. She frowned.

"What's the rush Emi?" Rage asked after finding her.

"Oh, Zero was here earlier," Emi answered. "I was going to keep talking to him."

"He was?" Rage asked in shock. "He actually came here? For what...?"

"He didn't come here to play DDR," Emi told him, "so he must have come here to see us in action."

"Perhaps you're right, Emi," Zukin's creepy voice rang from behind her.

Emi laughed nervously. Zukin still scared everyone just a little sometimes.

---

Staying there much longer proved too much for Zero. It was his first time in a long time to be in such an active environment. But he would try again next week... and if he needed to, he would try for many weeks afterward...

* * *

(I cut these off at weird parts. Some of these are ultra short, some are longer. Iono. More to come~)


	3. Luck

(w00t, I may as well upload another chapter. x3 I forget how long this one is, but this and the next are rather short. Ah well.  
I hate long stories personally do Ion't wanna upload it all at once. Might take a week? Iono. Enjoy, though~)

* * *

The next week, his worst fear was confirmed.

"Hi, Zero!"

His fear that Emi remembered him.

He nodded in reply.

"I haven't really talked to you since that first time we met, have I?" she rambled, fumbling with the short sleeves on her blue and gray jacket that day. "Jenny tells me you're a surgeon. That's awesome! You seemed like a smart person, so it makes sense to me. You hafta go to school for a long time to do that, don't you? You know, I've always wanted to be a..."

Zero spaced out while she continued the one-sided conversation. He shrugged off the compliments he pretended to hear.

"Zero? Hello?"

He blinked. "What?"

"I asked if you were going to play with us today."

"On... that machine?" Zero asked. He mumbled something angrily.

Emi leaned in closer. "Hmm?"

"I don't really know how to play it," he repeated slightly louder.

"Aw, there's no need to be embarrassed about it," Emi told him sweetly. "Most people are really bad when they first start. And you're a good dancer to begin with, so you should do fine. I'll even go up with you." She tugged at his arm.

What would Alice think if she saw them like this? He wished she could've gone up with him instead.

"Emi," Zukin said from behind them. The blue-haired girl turned around quickly. "I believe Zero would rather dance with someone else."

"Really?" She looked at the uncomfortable Zero. She beamed at her conclusion. "Ohh, you'd rather dance with Zukin, huh?"

"_What?_" he and the bat girl yelled.

"You've got it wrong."

"Th-that's not what I meant Emi -"

"Then... you just don't want to dance with me?" She was almost hurt.

As true as that was, he didn't want to say that.

"Or maybe you don't wanna give anyone the wrong impression," a male voice said.

Zero glared at its source, a man wearing a sleeveless hooded sweatshirt.

"Oh, don't be so jealous Rage," Emi laughed before talking to Zero again. "Rage does that to a lot of guys. Don't worry, Zero."

He was only relieved that she liked Rage, and that at least she wouldn't try to hit on him.

"So what's going on here? And why are you here to begin with, anyway?" Rage asked Zero, muscular arms crossed. "Not that I'm trying to kick you out," he corrected, "this just never seemed like your type of place."

Zero's eye twitched. People weren't supposed to know him so well. That aside, he wasn't sure how to answer that.

"I informed him of our meetings here, Rage-sama," Zukin answered for him.

"O... kay," Rage said, deciding not to ask further, although he was left with even more questions. "Anyway, I hear this is your second time here. You haven't tried DDR yet, have you?"

"I haven't," Zero replied, avoiding eye contact.

"Then get up there," Rage encouraged. "You'll never learn 'till you try it."

"... fine," Zero caved, hoping they wouldn't ask him again. He gently pushed his was past the ten or so spectators until he got to the machine. He noticed that there were some coins placed on the front.

"Oh yeah," Rage remembered, "you've got a line ahead of you. Put a coin up."

Zero dug through his pocket for a nickel so he could tell which coin was his. He put it up and waited.

As he watched, Emi went up with Yuni, and then Rage went up with Devil Zukin. They all displayed their own talent at the game. He knew he wasn't going to be that good from the start, and he was certainly an overconfident dancer who would deserve being ridiculed for his lack of skills. He shook his head, pushing this slight fear away as Zukin walked off Zero's side of the machine. She whispered delicately into his ear.

"Today is your lucky day, Zero-san."

He blinked and stared at her puzzlingly. He then pretended to ignore her, and then he stepped reluctantly onto the one-player dance mat. After putting three quarters into the machine, he noticed a familiar gloved hand put quarters in as well. Taken aback, his eyes snapped to his right, where he saw Alice bending back up.

"Zero? I guess we're gonna be dance partners, huh?" She smiled shyly at him. He flipped his hair to hide the sudden rush of blood that rose to his face.

* * *

(Thanks for readin so far. :3)


	4. Before an Audience

(Short chappy... sort of. Let's see Zero's DDR skillz~

For the record, I barely looked at the stepcharts mentioned in this chapter, and they're probably easier than I thought they were. So er... do me a favor and don't check. xD)

* * *

Zero hoped that Alice didn't expect a reply, and apparently she didn't. He crossed his arms stubbornly and looked at the screen, only pushing the buttons to pick basic selections. When the songlist appeared, he noted that Alice tapped the back arrow. He raised an eyebrow in question.

"I wanted to change the level," she explained so only he could hear. "What about you? If you haven't played before, you could stay on Beginner."

He pouted a little and glared at the screen. He figured he had enough talent to at least move to Basic. He awkwardly tapped the arrow as well until it changed, then leaned on the balance bar.

"I guess you don't have any specific song you wanna do, huh?" Alice asked. Zero's answer was a shrug. She avoided looking at him. "O-okay, I'll pick something."

As she scrolled indecisively through the song list, Zero could tell she thought he was hostile. If he kept this up, his efforts would go to waste.

He mumbled an apology.

"What?" she shouted over the music.

He wasn't going to speak much louder, so he learned a little next to her ear, causing her to flinch briefly. "I said, sorry if I scared you."

"Oh um, that's okay," Alice told him kindly, even though that gesture wasn't making her any more comfortable.

She chose to do Party Lights, with the belief that it would be a good song for Zero to start with. It began simple enough. The BPM was at a good speed for him, seeing as he occasionally needed an extra second to look down at the mat to see where the arrows were.

Behind him, the audience was a little louder than when the previous pair was up. However, that was because the previous songs were more interesting; people now were being more distracted and having conversations behind their backs. Yet at the same time, loyal fans danced in place or cheered at the performers, though obviously more for Alice. Even in only four arrows she was able to exude her smooth and cute movements. Zero, on the other hand, struggled to get points, despite having good timing when he managed to hit the arrows.

When the song ended, the announcer delivered their scores: a C and an A. Zero rested back on the bar and folded his arms. "Pick again," he offered in a frustrated voice.

She nodded shyly and scrolled down to find 30 Lives. It was a mistake, as it proved to be slightly fast for Zero. He pondered how to keep his cool when he clearly couldn't play the game well. Getting angry would only make things look worse, so he only tried his best to survive the whole song, until he got his E placed next to Alice's second A.

"That's okay," Alice assured, "Everybody loses at least one song when they start out. And you're trying songs harder than most people."

"Your pick," he said calmly.

She turned back to the machine and tried to find a slower song. After looking through other sorts, she picked out Higher. Zero was finally able to get the hang of the steps in the game, and his stomping was less loud. He began to hear a few girls cheer on his side, now that he'd already improved. His new fans pushed him to get better, though still treated him like a newbie. Still, they meant well.

His blue B shined next to Alice's third A grade.

"Congratulations, Zero," she said, "it looks like you have fans already. It was nice dancing with you." She nodded politely and walked off.

Zero nodded as well, but his eyes widened slightly as she hurried away, disappointed that he finally got to he with her and they weren't able to have a conversation. He stepped toward her side but she was engulfed in about five people too fast for him to catch up.

Meanwhile, two girls came to greet him on his side. He casually walked past them to get out of this uncomfortable crowd, even if it only had about ten people he didn't know, and one of them behind him apparently thought he was "a pretty angsty type." He forced a sigh. That wasn't what he intended at all.

* * *

(That was actually even shorter than I thought it was. o_o Next one coming soon~)


	5. Unwanted Attention

(Too many chapters... not enough things to say. :P Bit more dialogue, )

* * *

"I don't know why you're angry at me. I thought it went better than I expected, Zero-san."

"Now I've got more attention than I ever planned on having," Zero rambled to Devil Zukin on their rooftop. "How do you expect her to notice me now?"

"This is a good sign," she told him.

"What is?"

"You've just expressed your feelings for Alice out loud. Your desire for her to notice you, I mean. Things will be much easier when you let a little of your pride go for the one you love."

"I never said I loved her," he mumbled, "and besides, I'm only telling you that because you already know."

"If you insist. Either way, she was still intimidated by you. You didn't say much to her on the machine."

"I didn't get the chance. I could barely hear myself speak over that music." He rubbed his head from the memory of the deafening sounds.

"Alice is a hard person to get close to otherwise. However, I feel it will be easier to her to engage in a conversation in the arcade now. You now have an object of common interest. Or more specifically, you both share common knowledge about the game."

"She'll talk more just because of a game?"

Zukin appeared to be lost in a flashback. "Mm. You would be surprised at the people that game has brought together. It is the reason that most of us met, and could be a strong part of the relationship between you and Alice."

Zero nodded. Maybe it was true... like any other sport or activity, DDR was the same in that it could form friendships and groups. At least it could in that city.

"That means... I would have to play it more," Zero muttered reluctantly.

"Most likely. Is that a problem?" she asked teasingly.

"I don't play video games," he answered stubbornly. "And I don't perform in front of crowds. It's demeaning."

Zukin had prepared a counter for his argument. "Alice performs for a living. Is that a demeaning career path?"

"That's different... she's not playing games and she gets paid to dance. And she does it well."

Zukin sighed. "That is my advice for now. If you choose not to take it, I have other things to do."

_Where have I heard that before_, Zero thought. "I'll keep trying, I guess."

"I wish you luck, then," Zukin told him. "Ah, and the next time she tries to talk to you, respond to her. She is clearly a quiet person and does not take rejection well." With that, she flew off, probably to find something or someone more interesting.

The gust of wind from her wings played with Zero's silver hair. He brushed the odd strands out of his face, feeling as if it disturbed his thoughts. So he would have to lighten up more... until then, he believed it wasn't possible for him, or that he wouldn't become friendly right away.

---

The next week, he was yet again eagerly greeted by Emi.

"Hi, Zero!" she exclaimed and hopped up to him, wearing her green and white polka-dot dress this time. "Didja come back to play some more DDR?"

"... sure."

He surprised and mentally slapped himself. He would normally turn away and ignore her... what provoked him to answer her at all, let alone agree to play some silly game?

"All right, come with me," Emi said, pulling on his arm and dragging him up to the machine. "Alice, Zukin, Yuni, and Akira couldn't make it this week, so the lines are smaller."

Alice wasn't even there? What a waste of time... he would definitely have to get out of there as soon as he could.

After three songs (where Zero confidently moved to five-footers on Basic), he walked quickly and quietly away from Emi and tried to escape to the door.

"What's the rush?" Rage asked, blocking Zero's path. The latter halted and glared at him.

"I don't have time for this," Zero said.

"You came all the way down here for one game with Emi?" Rage crossed his arms skeptically. "I find that hard to believe."

"It was her idea to play at all. I was content watching."

"Still, you can't blame me for wondering what you're up to." Rage sighed. "All right then. Where are you headed?"

"Home."

"To do what?"

"That's for me to know."

"I think that's code for 'absolutely nothing.' Geez, I'd be thankful to be away from home."

"It's calmer and more relaxing than this place."

"So? Life's no fun if you don't spend time with your friends every once in a while."

Zero ignored him.

"All right, all right." Rage grumbled. "But you don't come from the games, you don't seem like you're here for me or Emi, and you have something to do with Zukin. I could just ask her but even if she told me...well, if it's something you don't want me to know, I guess it's not my business." He lazily waved goodbye to Zero and walked up to Emi, who was apparently chatting with Gus a few feet from the machine.

Zero sighed and left the arcade. He stood outside the door for a moment, too dazed to wander the somewhat busy streets. He had to ask himself... what was Alice doing? She was probably working, or at a performance. One of these days, he thought, he would see her live. Several feet away, yet closer than he ever was when seeing her on TV. Then again, he could always come close to that experience at this arcade.

Times where he could relax and think were the times he enjoyed most. Yet he knew he had to leave before someone hassled him to come back inside, so he did.

* * *

(Had to make Rage talk because I luff him. xP Little past half done with the fic, I think. More to come~)


	6. Getting Closer

(These last few are getting edited/cut more than the others, cause I keep losing more and more of Zero's character and for some other odd reasons, I have a lotta nitpicks. Ah well? ;P)

* * *

"You spoke to Rage-sama? How I wish we had traded places..."

"Why is that?" Zero asked Zukin on the rooftop once again.

"I was looking for Alice." Without glancing over, she knew she had his attention.

"I found her in the TV tower," she continued. "She was there in some sort of meeting that I couldn't hear from where I was at. I followed her to see if I could learn more about her, but I wasn't able to observe much. She went straight to her home with the other members of her dance group, but did not speak as I hoped. Instead, she retired in her bedroom. All I seem to have gathered is that her schedule must be very busy."

She sighed. "I did my part, and you appear to have done nothing to help our mission."

"What do you mean?" he asked, offended.

"You had your opportunity to become everyone else's friend. You could've fit in with our group more and as a bonus it would've been easier to be with Alice."

"What I did was intentional."

Zukin blinked. "How so?"

"I don't want the others to start being nice to me. It doesn't matter to me whether they like me or not. I'm there for Alice and I don't intend on being friendly to everyone." He thought more about what he wanted to say. "I don't belong... rather, I don't need to belong in a group."

"Then that is why you push them away so much?"

"Yes."

She hunched over a little. "I suppose that doesn't make sense to me," she muttered sadly.

He was suddenly interested. "What doesn't?"

"I've always wanted to be accepted by others," she explained, backing away from him. "I'm happy when new people are interested in me. If no one paid attention to me, I would never have been here. I would not be here helping you." She walked to the edge of the building and leapt into the sky, leaving Zero alone again.

It gave him something to think about. The people he met were more sincere than he expected. Emi and Rage especially. Although in completely different ways, they tried to include him. And somewhere deep down, Zukin probably liked him as well... maybe. Still, what use would a group of friends be to a person like him, anyway...?

----

After a stressful week of work, Zero forced himself to go to the arcade, hoping to all that was good that Alice would be there that week, or else it would be another pain. He quickly noticed that she was there among the crowd of DDR players, although Alice failed to notice him right away. No, she was never the one to greet him, that was always...

"You came back, Zero!"

... Emi's role. Back in her pink party dress, she had come up to him hoping for a different response, but still got nothing other than an annoyed nod.

Emi tilted her head and blinked. "Is something the matter?"

Zero became confused. "Why do you ask?"

"You seem kinda mad. Do you have a headache?"

"I usually do when I come-"

"I know, I'll get some water. I'll be right back!" She skipped off in her white boots to go purchase a drink.

When he thought about it, Zero wasn't feeling at his best that day. Perhaps his lack of sleep had caught up to him. He hadn't even noticed that himself until Emi mentioned it, and he was amazed at her deductive skills. Especially considering how hard it could be to find his expression underneath his eyeliner and bangs. She was beginning to hang around him too much, he thought...

He found a table at quite a distance away from the machine. The music wasn't as noisy from there, and the nearby games were much softer by comparison. Without caring if Emi could find his location, he took a seat and tried to relax.

"Here you go, Zero."

That peace lasted about ten seconds.

Zero looked across his table and found Emi sitting in front of him, smiling and holding a bottle of water.

"I didn't ask you to buy that," he told her indifferently.

"It's okay," Emi told him. "You came out here to be with us and this my way of saying thanks."

Her smile almost made him feel guilty that he dreaded seeing her up to that point.

"Don't push yourself too much if you don't feel well, okay?" she said.

He sighed. _He _was the doctor and this young girl was giving _him_ health advice. "I won't," he promised plainly.

She left him alone and joyfully headed to Rage and the others. She was an interesting girl to Zero. Not one he'd be very interested in (especially if it meant getting past Rage of all people), but she wasn't the annoying person he always thought she was. He still hoped she and the others were done bothering him for a while.

He swished the liquid in the nearly full bottle, and then he took a cold sip. Though he was finally glad to be by himself, he didn't feel he should be there while there was almost a party a few feet away. Someone would probably give him pity that he didn't want or need, and for that reason he got up and approached the DDR X machine, or more specifically, the young blue-haired girl next to it.

He stood behind her patiently until she turned around and noticed him.

"Oh, hello Zero," Alice greeted. "Are you going to play DDR today?"

This may have been the only week he could get out of it, due to his lack of perfect health. "I wouldn't count on it," he decided to reply. "Maybe next week."

"I see." Alice fidgeted as if working up the courage to say something. "B-but it was nice of you to come up anyway."

Zero searched for a simple reply. "It's no problem."

She smiled a little, considering those words were friendly coming from him.

He still felt that she wasn't going to understand that he only came for her unless he made it more obvious. He wasn't sure whether or not he should say something now or wait. He would have to start slow... on an object of common knowledge...

"Are you waiting for your turn?" he asked her.

"Yeah. I'm after Jenny and Gus. I think they're on their third song, so it won't be too much longer. It looks like they're gonna get an extra stage." She grinned a little from excitement. "I wonder who's going up with me."

He observed the layout of the machine. "It's like a stage to you, isn't it?"

"Huh? I guess so. I mean, people watch from pretty close, but it's easier to do with people I know."

"I would think it's easier when you disconnect yourself from your audience regardless of who you are or who they are."

"Yeah. That's true. But I think when I know the people watching me, I know they won't judge me harshly." She looked at him curiously, though he was still eyeing the DDR game. "I'm kind of surprised. You don't... seem to like to dance and yet you know so much about it."

"I learn what I can," he mumbled coolly.

"But you're so good at it, Zero. A lot of people here like to watch you."

He flipped his hair. "Are you sure that isn't because Jenny's convinced everyone that I'm a model?"

He heard a small giggle and followed it with his eyes. Alice appeared to think that was funny, and he_ actually_ broke into a smile from her cuteness.

"I don't know about them, but I really think you have talent," Alice answered.

He shrugged. "It won't get me anywhere, considering I already-"

There was a clang on the machine, and the word "Failed" appeared with splatters of paint behind it.

"Told you guys not to try MAX 300," Rage shouted jokingly. "They changed it up since the last game."

"Yeah, yeah," Gus shouted back.

"I... guess it's my turn now," Alice mumbled. "Um, I'll talk to you in a bit, okay?"

"All right," he told her. She made her way to the front and met Yuni at the machine.

At that moment, all he wanted to do was watch her dance. Sure, it was only a video game, but her skills were what he initially admired most about her. She wasn't like Rage or Gus who played for scores, she played for fun. Anyone could see it in the way she waved her arms and let her hair flow.

Three moderate songs and no one bothered him for once. He was thankful, yet it felt a little strange, as if deep down, he missed their interested words... Rage's confused questions or Emi's rants that he never heard entirely. He instinctively massaged his forehead, due to the fact his headache from earlier still hadn't gone away. While taking another drink of water, Alice stepped his way again.

"Are you feeling all right?" she asked, notably concerned.

"It's a headache," he replied. "It's nothing to be concerned about."

"Oh... I see."

An idea hit him. "You know," he began, still avoiding eye contact with her, "I'm not used to loud, almost painful music with shouting crowds surrounding me. Maybe we could meet somewhere else at a later date."

"Huh?" she asked, taken off guard.

He cleared his throat, not wanting to mess up. "I was asking if you'd like to meet somewhere else."

She had a feeling she knew what he meant, but she was too afraid to answer either way. "Um... like where?"

_You appear to play with her mind when you want to meet up with her_, Zero remembered._ She will be afraid of you unless you let her do as she chooses._

"Anywhere you'd like," he offered, hoping he was saying the right thing even if it was out of character, "somewhere you're comfortable, but somewhere quieter. Though I would understand if you'd rather not meet at all."

"Oh," she muttered, "s-sure, we can um... meet up. You could find me at the TV tower after um... seven. Is Wednesday okay?"

"I'll see you then," he replied. It was both an answer and a goodbye for him. He walked away, leaving Alice to wonder what she'd gotten herself into.

* * *

(Still not over~)


	7. A Date?

(Ah sorry... meant to get this up sooner but er, I spaced it off. The last chapter might not be for a couple days as it requires a loadton of tweaking and stuff, but until then... enjoy~

Ahmm... the chapter titles aren't all that fitting. Should've just called 'em "Chapter 1, Chapter 2," etc. :P)

* * *

Zukin applauded briefly. "I am glad you got her on a date so quickly, Zero-san," she congratulated, smiling for once. Without giving him time to protest about whether or not it was a date, she continued. "This is working out so well. It's difficult to wait until Wednesday to see what you two are like together."

Zero glared at her. "What do you mean? I won't see you Wednesday."

"But I will see you two. It was part of our deal."

He mentally slapped himself for agreeing to that. "_Now_ it sounds like an invasion of privacy."

"I assure you that the more difficult you make it to hide, the farther away I'll be. Or perhaps, I will not be around at all for some parts. But it will be impossible to find me, so I suggest you assume that I'm not there at all."

He sighed in defeat. "At this point, I won't argue."

"And I will not give you any more advice. The rest is meant to happen on its own." She nodded. "I wish you the best of luck." She wandered to the edge of the roof, but paused to say something without turning around. "I highly respect you, Zero-san. You are farther than I will ever be."

She flew away from him quickly, even though they both knew he wouldn't comment on it. He still questioned her full motivations, but he wasn't going to lose sleep over not knowing. Besides, she allowed him to keep secrets, so he wouldn't bother her about hers.

He didn't believe she had any more help to give him. She knew enough about meeting others and becoming friends, but she wasn't in a relationship herself. He wondered how her plans worked so well up to this point, though he had to credit her regardless.

---

Zero waited outside the tower that evening, on a nearby bench. He took a few minutes to reminisce about their first meeting. It was right where he sat, or at least very close to it. He saw her on his first day of aimlessly wandering the streets, looking for someone who was remotely normal. She didn't speak, and neither did he. When she apologized for inconveniencing him, she became his favorite person in this town instantly, as opposed to the others who bugged him for a dance every time they saw him.

She was passive and kind, and precisely the type of girl that Zero had only seen rarely. Whenever he did meet someone like her, he tended to scare her off one way or another. Yet although Alice was afraid of him, she hadn't given up on him yet, and perhaps that was what he... liked about her.

He saw her come out of the building in an old-looking red top with green shapes on it. She ran up to him, worried that she made him wait too long. She bowed her head and then greeted him.

"Good evening, Zero," she told him. "How was your day?"

"Fine," he replied. "And... yours?"

"It was busy," she told him. "But I'm glad I'm done for the day." They both shifted from the awkward situation. Zero glanced around for Zukin while he was avoiding Alice's eyes, but as the bat girl promised, she was no where in sight.

"So... where are we headed?" Alice asked curiously.

Zero thought of the few places he'd seen in this town, until the perfect one hit him."What about the park?"

Alice almost blushed a bit at the thought, but it could've been worse. "Umm.. s-sure."

He glanced at her. He wanted to be alone, but she probably didn't. "I won't force you to."

"N-no, I mean... it's not a big problem. I'm just surprised."

Another bit of silence followed. Zero cleared his throat to break it, and the girl faced upward at him again.

"Um... I think it's on the other side of town," Alice said. "It would be easiest if we got a ride."

They found a bus stop, and waited in a crowded bus until it went to the park. Alice found a seat, while Zero waited holding a handrail. For privacy's sake, it was a quiet ride. They would be alone soon enough...

--

When the park was finally in sight, the sun had begun to rest behind the buildings of the city side. Zero tried to lead Alice to an area absent of many trees from the belief that _someone_ would hide in one of them. This was good news for her as well, for she didn't want to head to a dark place with someone she barely knew.

Alice yawned off to the side, trying to hide it. Zero noticed anyway and signaled her to rest on a bench, when the moon finally appeared alongside the stars in the sky.

They fidgeted for a few moments, until Alice was yet again the person to say something.

"It seems like since we met, we were never able to talk much," she commented.

"It's in our natures," Zero reasoned. "Though I'm sure your reason for keeping to yourself is more legitimate than mine."

She smiled uneasily. He was still a scary person to listen to sometimes.

"Um... Zero," she started shyly. He looked at her with interest, though she didn't meet his eyes yet.

"You've... kinda been talking to me more than the others. It sort of seems like... do you um..." her mind fumbled for words. "Am I different?"

Zero leaned back in his seat. "In short... you are." He sighed, feeling vulnerable while trying to express something deep. He hated it, but he continued. "You really are different from the others. You respected who I was more than they did when I first met them. Even though I was distant, you didn't push to find out more about me..." He realized he was almost a hypocrite. "Even though I pushed to know more about you."

Alice shook her head gently. "I don't think you were being pushy. This... this is all so sudden to me, but we're still getting to know each other." She rubbed her arm a little. Zero couldn't tell if she was cold or just fidgety. He almost thought of lifting his arm...

"But..." she started sadly.

... the thought disappeared. He had a bad feeling.

"Before... in case anything happens... I want you to know that... there was... there is someone back in Japan..."


	8. Hope

"I never said a lot to people because nothing was official," Alice continued, "but I have a friend I knew from our old arcade... he was my best friend and I still write to him every month or so. I-I don't know what to do but-"

"I get it," Zero stopped her with an empty voice. He furiously scowled in another direction. He got off of the bench and took a few steps away, in an attempt to recollect himself. He remembered now... Devil Zukin did mention this man before. He didn't believe that Zukin knew what she was talking about at the time. He also never believed that hearing this would affect him so much.

There was nothing Alice could say to help him then... but he knew he had to say something to help her. He glanced just enough to his side so he could see Alice through his silver bangs. She was hunched over a bit, staring at her hands in her lap. She was afraid of him all over again.

"It's not your fault," Zero told her.

She timidly looked at him. He turned to her entirely; his was face then at a loss of emotion and even lost the usual anger. The man walked in front of her, and she instinctively stood up.

He sighed forcefully, aware of the possibility that his next gesture would scare her.

With one arm, he gently pulled her head into the shoulder of his fluffy jacket. He felt her become incredibly tense, but before he let her free, she hugged him back with her thin arms.

"I'm sorry," she said into a pile of fur.

"Don't apologize," he muttered. It only made it more difficult to accept this news. "Still, to be honest," he started, "I didn't know you as well as I thought I did. Even now," he paused to try to find the right words, "I don't know... what I felt. I tried to take this too fast, and for that, I'm sorry."

They released each other. Alice nodded a little.

"It's okay," she mumbled. "I um... I wasn't sure how I felt about you either." She thought for a moment. "Sometimes people come up and talk to me and they don't come back because I don't say much. Fans just want to watch me dance and get autographs. Emi and the others... they tried really hard to include me, but some of them are in their own pairs or have closer friends. I really like them and they are my friends but... what I mean to say is, you're different, too. I appreciate that you tried to talk to me, even though it's something you don't do a lot." She smiled at him, though she was almost sad.

"I like you as a good friend," she continued. "I don't want to ruin that. I didn't want to ruin it with him, either... so that's why..." Her voice and face trailed off.

He shook his head a little. "You don't have to be upset about it," he told her. "I wouldn't detest you if you chose him, or neither of us. But," he sighed, again having a hard time expressing what he felt, "I would still be with you, if you wanted."

Alice smiled again. "Thank you, Zero." She looked at the starry sky that loomed over them. "Um... it's kinda late so, I'll be going home now."

"So will I," he said.

She backed away from him and hastily walked in her own direction. Her pace probably had something to do with the tears in her eyes.

--

Zero was still hurt that she still had a liking for another man. It was his fault for all the confusion, if anyone's. He didn't know her well enough to, dare he admit it, fall in love with her. But Devil Zukin was the one who told him to go for it, who pushed him to go out with her, and who was more confident that this would work than he was.

She was already on the roof before Zero arrived to complain.

"Ah, Zero-san," she said eagerly.

"You seem oddly happy about this," he growled at her.

She tilted her head. "What do you mean?" she asked a little nervously. "From where I stood, I saw that you held her. It was just like... I had seen before. You two were very close."

He stared diagonally at the ground. "You were right about one thing. She has a 'friend' in Japan."

Zero heard a muffled yelp. He shot a concerned glance at Zukin, who had covered her mouth with her mitten-clad hands. Her eyes were wide in shock.

"N-no..." she cried quietly. "But he... he didn't even... she barely..." She knelt on the ground in tears.

Zero was puzzled and a little guilty for being mad at her to begin with. He had no idea she would take this information harder than he did... or that she would show it this much, anyway. He wasn't a person to comfort her, but he didn't have the heart to leave her like that.

"Calm down," he said, "you warned me about this guy when we started. I didn't think she was serious about him and neither did you. That was just a mistake we both made."

"But to be rejected only because of timing," she argued, "you had a chance, Zero-san. I know you did. She could've loved you back. It wasn't fair... it's never fair... I wanted this to happen... instead, I only made it worse."

"She didn't... specify that she was in love with him," Zero interrupted. "She just said that she had a friend in Japan that she wrote to." He thought of his words again, not wanting to be too sentimental. "She said she did like me as a friend... that I was closer than some others. Perhaps I do have a chance."

"Th-then... this wasn't in vain after all." She weakly stood up and looked sincerely at him through her wet eyes. "You let her know of your affections before it was too late, Zero-san." She held loosely onto his arms. "There is still hope for you. You can still hope."

Her unstable tone began to scare him a little, though he decided he had to question her further. "Why does it matter so much to you?" Zero asked. "You set me up for this, but the fact that it didn't work was beyond your control. It's not a big-"

"I wanted to make a relationship work," she cried again. "I wanted to help someone. I wanted to know what love was like." Zukin stepped backward. "I'm so sorry... rejection is too painful for someone. I'm so sorry you had to face it."

She ran off and flew away before he could protest or question further. She became another person he could add to his list of bizarre residents, though a small part of him pitied her.

It turned out to be a very difficult month for Zero. He discovered the some of worst parts of being in love with the first girl he trusted in a quite some time. He met more people than he thought he'd ever want to know, and broke a bat girl's heart without really doing anything to her.

Yet that month was what truly started his friendships with the people of the town. As they began to see more of what he was, he learned there was more to them than their obsession with dance. Each person was a different character, and he would have to keep going back to the arcade, perhaps even dance with the blue-haired target of his affection. Yes, 'his' town became a lot more interesting.

* * *

(I do believe I'll leave it as it is now. Part of the reason it ended like that was cause in all this ZeroAlice shipping, I forgot about the guy I used to pair Alice up with. And a happy sappy ending seemed too predictable. :P And maybe there's a possibility of other Zero pairings? Dunno~  
I do think Zero/Alice is awesome because they are both really quiet, and it was the most implied pairing in Street Master Mode (though some could argue Zero/Jenny and maybe a few others). He was nicer to her than he was to pretty much everyone else and he seemed to feel a little bad about scaring her at first. Their episode was so cute. x3 And let's not forget that Alice dreamed about him, even if the dream was really effed up. xP

Thankzultra to Wisteria-Child fro being thefirst reviewer and leaving nice comments. I would've posted this chapter like... three weeks from now or something if no one reviewed, so yay~  
And to my bud Shadow for reading as well. :3

And this concludes my rare attempt at a real chapter fic. I hope you two and the other readers found it interesting~)


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